


i don't know where i'm going, but i don't think i'm coming home.

by minimemeyoongi



Series: seventeen ft. writing prompts [2]
Category: K-pop, SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Online Dating, Alternate Universe - Restaurant, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Awkward Dates, Blind Date, Cell Phones, Comfort/Angst, Developing Friendships, Dinner, Eventual Fluff, First Dates, First Meetings, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluffy Ending, Friendship, Friendship/Love, How Do I Tag, I Don't Even Know, I Tried, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Bad At Titles, I'm Sorry, Light Angst, M/M, Male Friendship, Mentioned Hong Jisoo | Joshua, Mentioned Kim Mingyu, Mentioned Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi, Mentioned Lee Seokmin | DK, Mentioned Wen Jun Hui | Jun, Mentioned Xu Ming Hao | The8, Online Dating, Online Friendship, Online Relationship, Online Romance, Phone Calls & Telephones, Restaurants, Romantic Fluff, Romantic Friendship, Sort Of, Sort of? - Freeform, Starbucks, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Very Very Light Angst, Waiting, Xu Ming Hao | The8-centric, a whole fucking Lot of it, hmm, hopefully, it's like, pls read, poor minghao, you won't even know it's there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2018-08-08
Packaged: 2019-06-23 17:33:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15611412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minimemeyoongi/pseuds/minimemeyoongi
Summary: 'Goodmorning, Haohao! I'll see you later, alright? :)'orMinghao and Mingyu are more than friends. Minghao likes to think they're sort of dating but are not quite there just yet.





	i don't know where i'm going, but i don't think i'm coming home.

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments are highly appreciated, but i do appreciate comments more!! talk to me!!
> 
> title, which has no connection to the work below, is taken from fall out boy's alone together, because apparently, that's going to be my concept for [ this entire series](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1100127).

Minghao startled awake with a loud noise coming from the far side of his room. He groaned, reluctantly getting out of bed to where his phone was charging, away from him. His alarm blared the chorus of Fall Out Boy's The Last of the Real Ones and died out as immediately as it started when Minghao slid his thumb from one side to the other, turning the alarm off.

Minghao rubbed his face and, just like everyday, muttered about how he hated himself for charging his phone far away from him. Though it was an effective way to wake him and get him out of bed at the same time, it didn't make anything better.

He stood from where he was sprawled on the floor and got himself ready for today's work.

\--

Minghao has been one of the all - around workers at Starbucks for two years now, and never has he regretted his decision to stay. Minus the numerous complaints on how hectic it got whenever they had their promo days and the bemoaning of how annoying the other customers were, working at Starbucks was great.

The free food and drink of his choice for every day he came in to work satisfied his stomach for breakfast and lunch. The items that were no longer being sold got Minghao many tumblers and mugs that he didn't even need. The discounts he got whenever he came into Starbucks as a customer made him feel as if he wasn't wasting too much money for a simple frappe he could make at home.

All in all, he loved working at Starbucks, and Starbucks made loving easy to do.

Minghao came in just as the shop opened, meeting his coworker during Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays. They exchanged a one - armed hug and walked inside.

"Goodmorning, Jisoo - hyung! Minghao!" Greeted their other coworker, Soonyoung.

"Hey, bro," Minghao greeted back, giving Soonyoung the same one - armed hug.

The three got to work, falling into the easy routine they had gradually formed without having to speak about it. Soonyoung would be the first to sweep the floor and fix up the tables and chairs. Minghao would be the first to put out the pastries and bottled drinks on display. Jisoo would be the first to dust off the tumblers, coffee makers, and other Starbucks merchandise being sold. After thirty minutes, they would rotate and do the other's work. Soonyoung moved to the merchandise, Jisoo to the pastries, and Minghao to the floor. Another thirty minutes would have them rotating again.

After their little clean up lasting an hour and a half, the Starbucks branch was clean and decent. For the last step of getting the Starbucks ready for customers, Soonyoung would go outside to sweep away the leaves, Minghao would go to the cash register and count the money they were to start with for the day, and Jisoo would redesign their food of the day board to be displayed outside.

At exactly nine in the morning, Soonyoung flipped the sign on the door, officially opening their branch for the day. Minghao's phone rang then, too, and he smiled.

His daily goodmorning text had arrived.

He brought his phone out of his pocket and opened his messages app to the message log of him and Mingyu, his friend. Well, 'friend' was largely an understatement.

_'Goodmorning, Haohao! I'm going to assume you guys just opened the shop and are tired from cleaning up. I hope you'll find some time to rest, Haohao! Don't overwork yourself!!!! See you around :)'_

Minghao blushed, ears quickly turning red. He replied back with as much enthusiasm as Mingyu's message had and pocketed his phone once the message sent. Minghao smiled to himself, letting out a little giggle from giddiness. Soonyoung noticed and called him out for it and soon all three of them were immersed in intense yet playful teasing. They immediately sobered up, though, when the first customer of the day entered the shop.

Minghao met Mingyu from a dating app. Simple as that. Once they got past the phase of being suspicious of each other being a catfish, their relationship was light and fun. Minghao was a decent guy, and Mingyu was a nice guy. Mingyu was nice enough to not fight Minghao when he got unintentionally rude. Minghao was decent enough to answer Mingyu's many random questions at odd times of the day. Minghao could safely say that they clicked; they matched, somehow. Maybe it was all because of Mingyu's personality and patience that they even got this far. Mingyu, who was so easily excited to hear Minghao's stories. Mingyu, who was so fiercely determined in everything he does. Mingyu, who never tired of Minghao. Mingyu was just the kind of person that you wanted to pat on the head just for existing.

They've exchanged selcas so much that it's gotten to the point where they don't even bother fixing themselves before taking the picture and sending it. They've called each other so much that Minghao can imagine Mingyu's voice in his head, Mingyu's little lisp all too adorable. They've video called each other so much that Minghao has memorised the way Mingyu's face changes from calm to crumpled in laughter.

The only thing missing was for them to meet in person.

While the two had no problem with meeting, neither of them actually asked to meet. As each day passed, the urge to meet the warm, funny, adorable Mingyu has increased more and more.

Minghao checked his phone to see three new messages from Mingyu. In the first message, Mingyu had said that he had seen a cute dog on the way to work. The second message was a picture of said dog, and the third was Mingyu telling him he had named the dog, 'Mickey'. Minghao replied, typing that Mingyu was ridiculous and that he hoped Mingyu would be late to work. Mingyu replied back instantaneously with a barrage of sad emojis. Minghao laughed, sending Mingyu kiss emojis, and a second later, receiving kiss emojis himself.

Minghao sighed. The bell on the door rang, signalling a new customer. He hid his phone under the counter, placing it facedown on the shelf. He plastered his best customer - friendly smile. "Hello, welcome to Starbucks! May I take your order?"

\--

Minghao paid no attention to the stab of pain in his shoulder as he bumped it into the door frame while trying to enter his apartment. All he had in his mind was to fall asleep and undress, not exactly in that order. He spent a few seconds longer with making sure that his door was locked, then shedding off his clothes on his way to his bedroom. His shirt was left lying on the floor of his living room, sock number one a few feet away from it and sock number two by the door of his bathroom. He stumbled over getting rid of his pants while walking and fell in bed, pants at his feet.

He was so tired. He was just thankful that he wasn't working tomorrow, as Saturdays and Sundays were always covered by a different crew. If he had to work for all seven days of the week he was so sure he'd lose his mind. Which was why Minghao always wondered how Mingyu could still be a decent human being despite having to work all days of the week.

He brought his phone, the only thing he kept with him while undressing, to his face, looked at the name being displayed on the screen, then accepting the call. "Hey, Mingyu,"

 _"Man, you're really tired today,"_ says Mingyu, forgoing the usual greeting.

"I don't even know why I am. I just got home, by the way," Minghao says, because for some reason Mingyu likes to know when Minghao leaves and comes home, when Minghao arrives at work and what time he clocks out. Minghao never bothered to ask why, since he found that a lot of people actually are interested in those things.

 _"Welcome home, then,"_ Mingyu's voice is cheery, happier and brighter than usual.

Minghao notices this, and he lifts his head. "What's got you so happy?"

 _"I don't have to go to work tomorrow!"_ Mingyu yells, making Minghao cringe away from his phone at the sudden increase in volume.

"That's great! You won't earn money and will starve!" Minghao replies with an equally cheery tone. Over the phone, he can hear Mingyu pouting.

_"Mean,"_

Minghao laughs. "Oh?" He says, an idea popping up in his head. "Hey, since you're free tomorrow," he begins.

_"Yeah?"_

"And I'm free tomorrow,"

_"Yeah?"_

"We can go out and finally meet in real life." He finishes. His heart flutters at the prospect of finally meeting Mingyu face to face after three months of knowing him through a screen.

A few seconds pass, and Minghao has to bring his phone away from his ear to check if the call had cut without him noticing. The counter says otherwise, showing him that the call had been going on for five minutes and counting.

 _"Hey, yeah, that's great!"_ Mingyu says. _"I can finally see you and make fun of how short you are!"_

Minghao scoffs. "I'm far from being short, thankyou very much," then, after a few seconds of thinking, he hesitates, "but seriously, if you don't want to go out tomorrow, it's fine. It's been a while since you had your Saturday free anyway."

It takes a few more seconds of silence on the other end until Mingyu breaks it. _"No, it's all good. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"_

Minghao grins, nodding even if Mingyu can't see. "Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow." He can't help feeling like he's some stereotypical highschool girl seeing her crush just breathe. His heart beats quickly to match how excited and happy he is for tomorrow.

 _"I'll text you the details, okay?"_ Mingyu sounds distracted now, but Minghao doesn't bother asking why. Mingyu always has a lot of things on his mind.

"Sure. For now we should get some rest,"

Mingyu chuckles. _"Yeah, okay. Goodnight, Minghao."_

"Goodnight." Minghao ends the call. He rolls around in bed, fatigue collected from the day's work being forgotten in place of feeling over the moon for what the next day would bring.

He knows he must feel a little bit too much for just one little meet up, but this was different. Mingyu was one of the very few people Minghao actually became interested in romantically, and it doesn't help that it's going to be their first time seeing each other without having to look through their screens.

Minghao spends a few minutes just staring at the ceiling with a goofy smile on his face, his blank state being interrupted by his text message tone. He types in his password and reads through Mingyu's message, then reads through it again twice, thrice, eight times in total. By the fourth time he's memorised the message already.

They were going to meet tomorrow. They would be meeting at some fancy restaurant not too far from the Starbucks Minghao works at. They would meet at three in the afternoon and eat lunch there. They'd be meeting quite later in the day because Mingyu wanted Minghao to take his time resting. Mingyu said goodnight. There were heart emojis at the end. Minghao's heart had never felt like exploding before, but he was sure that this was what it had felt like.

He falls asleep shortly after with a soft smile on his face. He didn't even get to charge his phone.

\--

Minghao sleeps in until it's twelve in the afternoon and he's startled awake by a loud banging on his door. He jumps fully awake when the banging resumes, afraid that it was his landlord at the door telling him to pay his rent, even though Minghao always pays right on time.

He runs to the door after putting on a shirt large enough to cover the fact that he was only in his boxers. He swings it open without caring to look through the peephole and is extremely annoyed to find out that it was just Seokmin.

"What are you doing here?" He asks, not bothering to mask his irritation.

Seokmin's smile only grows wider and then Soonyoung materialises beside him, making Minghao all the more miffed. Soonyoung comimg over alone was tiring enough. But Soonyoung coming over with his boyfriend in tow was definitely going to mean Minghao wouldn't be able to breathe. He loved both of them, really; he just hoped he didn't have to be hospitable right now when all he wanted to do was continue sleeping.

"You totally forgot, didn't you? We're eating out today!" Soonyoung says, pushing past Minghao to let himself and Seokmin inside without even waiting to be invited in.

"No I didn't, and no we aren't," Minghao argues, though he does remember Soonyoung telling him he wanted to hang out sometime ago.

Soonyoung gives Minghao an unimpressed look as he settles into Minghao's couch like he belongs there. "I literally asked you this on Thursday and you said you were free since you're a miserable single person who has no date to keep yourself occupied."

Minghao pinks when Seokmin laughs. Yeah, okay, he totally did say that on Thursday. "Well excuse you because I'm single no more." He huffs, proud of himself.

Seokmin perks up, as he always does when he knows there's something juicy that he needs to know about right at that moment. "Who and when?"

Minghao exhales, although it was only for show. He would tell them even if they weren't going to ask anyway, if only to rub it in their faces that he wasn't as miserably single as he felt. "I'll tell you over lunch. Wait for me to get ready, I just woke up."

"You seem to wake up really late for someone who didn't get fucked last night," Soonyoung calls out.

Minghao narrows his eyes. "Seokmin - ah, shut Soonyoung up before I throttle him with my shirt."

The couple laugh and Minghao leaves them to take an intentionally long shower.

\--

"So spill the details on this extremely sexy boyfriend." Soonyoung teases once their food is set on the table.

Minghao blushes. "Well, technically, he isn't my boyfriend yet,"

He's met with loud boos. "Wow, what an attention seeker! Clickbait!" Soonyoung yells, even though Minghao was just across the table from him.

Minghao rolls his eyes. "Shut up, you dingus. I'll be single no more in about three days or something. I'm going on a date later tonight."

Seokmin leans in again, his little, 'tell me all about it' face on. "Tell me all about it, dude."

"Okay, so his name is Mingyu --"

Both Soonyoung and Seokmin let out exaggerated exclamations at the exact same time. "His name is Mingyu!" Soonyoung says, Seokmin echoing after.

Minghao raises an eyebrow at their antics, unimpressed. "Are you going to let me talk or are you just going to sound ridiculous?" Minghao steals some fries from Soonyoung's plate and sips from Seokmin's drink just because he can.

They both sober up and Minghao continues.

"I met him online. And before you make fun of me, yes, it's one of those ridiculous dating apps, and yes it's still on my phone until now because yes, I'm a lonely person who has nobody to make out with." His voice is blank even as his self - deprecation casually leaves his mouth. "Anyway," he says, cutting off the couple's laughing. "He's a pretty nice guy. I've known him for three months now and I've made sure he's who he says he is."

"How?" Seokmin takes a bite of his burger.

"We've Facetimed a lot. I don't think someone can keep catfishing someone through a call that shows your face. And we've been talking for three months. If he was really catfishing me he would get tired of lying all this time, right?"

Seokmin hums, agreeing. "That's true. So three months?"

"Yeah. I'll finally get to see him face to face tomorrow." He can't stop the small smile on his face.

Seokmin and Soonyoung exchange a look that Minghao misses when he ducks his head to take a bite of his burger.

"That's great, hyung!" Seokmin says, though it sounds forced.

Minghao rolls his eyes. "That was so fake, but okay. Thanks, Seokmin." He grins.

They lapse into a comfortable silence that gets broken when Soonyoung remembers something that happened to him at work and then proceeds to tell them all about it, the subject of Minghao and his date pushed aside and forgotten.

\--

Minghao can't control his nerves. He doesn't even know what his problem is, why he feels so very, very nervous. He thinks, absently, that it's because he's never been good with new people. While Mingyu wasn't exactly a 'new person', Minghao wasn't exactly familiar with him either.

Minghao fiddles with his fingers, plays with his hair, straightens his shirt, and repeats the cycle twice more. He's been standing outside the restaurant for atleast five minutes now. He doesn't know if Mingyu's there already; Mingyu hadn't texted him all day yet and was still unresponsive until now, so Minghao had no way of knowing where Mingyu was. He lets out a breath of determination, but then sucks it back in. It's a good thing he came early; it allowed him lots of time for stalling like this.

Minghao clears his throat. He may be nervous, but he has never been good with tolerating bullshit, whether it be his or someone else's. So he releases all that nervousness he's been trying to keep in, and in he went.

The restaurant wasn't as fancy as it looked outside, but it was definitely far from fastfood. There were chandeliers casting a warm, yellow glow within the place. The waiters wore suits that reminded Minghao of one of Batman's enemies. There was someone to welcome customers heading in, and now their attention was on Minghao.

"Good evening, sir. Do you have a reservation?"

Minghao nodded. Mingyu had told him not to worry the night before, because Mingyu had already set up a reservation. "Yeah, actually. For Kim Mingyu,"

The man looked down into what was most likely a log book, looking back at Minghao after scanning through a few pages. "I'm sorry, sir, but there is no Kim Mingyu here. What time was the reservation made?"

Minghao blanked. "Uhm, yesterday, I guess? Sorry but could you please check again? He told me he made a reservation already."

After reading three more pages, the man looked up again, a small frown evident on his face. "I'm sorry, sir. Maybe you are looking for a Kim Minseok?"

Minghao's face crumpled into confusion. "Uhm, no. But it's fine. I'll just go wait for him. When he arrives, please tell him that there's a Xu Minghao already waiting." He smiles.

Suddenly another employee is infront of him. "Good evening, sir. Table for how many?"

"Two, please."

"Right this way, sir."

\--

"Good evening, sir. My name is Seulgi, I will be your assigned waitress this evening. Would you like to order?" A waitress asks, startling Minghao from his absentminded staring.

He looks up from the menu being handed to him."Oh, uhm, no. Maybe later, thankyou." He smiles, then returns his chin back on his hand.

It had been fifteen minutes since Minghao sent Mingyu a text telling him he was already at the restaurant, and thirty minutes since Minghao was seated. Absently, he hums a song he heard playing on the radio from earlier in the day when he was eating out with Soonyoung and Seokmin. Five more minutes. Five more minutes and he would message Mingyu again.

\--

It had been an hour since Minghao arrived, and still there was no sign of Mingyu. Minghao had already tried to call Mingyu eight times, and sent him more than ten messages asking where he was. Mingyu had not replied nor acknowledged any of Minghao's attempts to check up.

"Sir? Would you like to order now?" The same waitress from before asks.

Minghao looks at her with a smile. "Sorry, maybe later. I'm kind of waiting for someone, I wouldn't want him to arrive with the food already cooling."

The waitress leans back, tucking menus further into her arms. She nods understandingly and leaves.

\--

Two hours and a half. Still, no sign of Mingyu.

"Sir?" The waitress, who Minghao remembers was named Seulgi, arrives again.

Minghao gives her a small smile, shaking his head. She leaves after returning his smile.

\--

It's been four hours and Minghao's patience is wearing very thin. He had sent a total of twenty - three messages, tried to call sixteen times, and left two voicemails. All unacknowledged. Mingyu was still nowhere to be found.

Minghao's legs were starting to get stiff, he could feel the pain his ass was in for sitting so long in one place with minimal movement. His back was aching from all the slouching he did and he felt uncomfortable having to lean on the backrest of his chair. He scoffed at the empty chair infront of him.

From afar, he could see Seulgi making her way to him. He lets her, seeing as she has been the only source of communication he had ever since he sat down.

"Sir? Would you like to order a little something while waiting?" She asks, one menu in hand.

He sighs inwardly. He could wait just a little bit more. He could put off eating just a little bit more. He wasn't that hungry anyway. "It's alright. I can wait." He says, because he knows he can.

He can wait.

Seulgi shifts, hesitant to leave. She eyes him with her eyebrows furrowed, with an expression Minghao registers as pity, and it makes his smile falter. He takes a quick glance around him, seeing some people looking at him in a similar way : like they know how long Minghao has been waiting for someone who will likely never come.

He clears his throat, facing Seulgi with a fake smile. "Just give me another minute, okay?"

\--

After five hours and a half of waiting for Mingyu, Minghao sighs in defeat. He takes his jacket from his lap and is about to stand up when a pair of hands slams down hard on his table. Minghao jumps terribly, dropping his jacket in the process.

"Babe! I'm so sorry I'm late!"

Minghao looks into the eyes of a very, very good looking man.

A very, very good looking man who is most definitely not Kim Mingyu.

He frowns, not appreciating the fact that he was probably being the butt of a joke. "Excuse me?"

The stranger sighs, loudly. "Please don't be mad at me! The traffic was so bad, I had to run all the way here from work. Boss made me work overtime again, you know how he hates me." He explains, loud enough for the whole restaurant, and maybe even the whole world, to hear.

Minghao still does not appreciate being the fool in all of this.

As he opens his mouth to tell the guy to fuck off, the stranger leans down, his face level with Minghao's. "Just --" the stranger says, in a low tone this time, for Minghao's ears only. "Just play along with it, okay? Whoever didn't bother to show up is a dick." He gives Minghao a reassuring smile.

For the first time since Minghao walked through the doors of the restaurant, he felt happy to be here.

Minghao smiles. Fine. He can play along. "I'm not mad, don't worry. I was so worried though! You must be tired from all that running, go sit down, babe." He says, as loud as the stranger was. He tried not to cringe at the pet name he used.

The people around him looked away once the stranger took his seat across from Minghao, and Minghao notices that the guy was panting, like he actually did run from work to get to the restaurant.

"My name is Jun, by the way. It's nice to meet you." The now named stranger says wirh a grin on his face.

Minghao smiles. "I'm Minghao. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Out of the corner of his eye, Minghao sees Seulgi approaching again. She arrives at the table with a bright smile, a total opposite from her forced one earlier. "Good evening, are you ready to order?"

Minghao beams. "Yeah, actually."

Because he is. After nearly six hours of waiting for someone who never came, he was ready to order.

\--

"So, Jun, how many people have you saved from public embarrassment because their dates stood them up?" Minghao asks, pouring himself more wine.

Jun laughs at that; Jun laughs a lot, Minghao noted, even at the things that aren't funny. Minghao would know. He isn't funny at all but Jun has been laughing at whatever Minghao has said for the past two hours they've been together.

"Uhm, you're actually the only one. I know how it looks and feels like to be stood up, and I just didn't want that to happen to you." Jun replies, shy.

"Well, thankyou for saving me. Really. You're great company."

Jun looks up from his food, his eyes twinkling. "You're great company, too!"

Minghao playfully rolls his eyes. "I bet you tell that to all the poor victims of bad dates."

Jun laughs, again, and Minghao finds that he doesn't mind. He likes how Jun laughs.

Jun, it turns out, really was stuck in traffic. After five minutes of being trapped within the noise of cars honking and the smell of smoke, Jun decided he had enough and parked his car at the nearest place that looked like his car wouldn't get jacked. Then, Jun also decided that running to his favourite place to eat was a good idea, so that was what he did. Hence his out of breath moment from earlier. He had seen Minghao fidgeting in his seat, deemed that Minghao was stood up by some piece of shit, and took the dive. Jun made his way as quickly as he could to Minghao, and arrived at the table just as Minghao was about to leave. He couldn't have just ignored Minghao like that, especially since he looked so sad and beat up (at this point in Jun's story Minghao interrupted him with an indignant yell). It was such a good thing that Jun's deduction skills came through once again, because if Minghao actually wasn't waiting for anyone and was just going to leave, Jun's intervention would have made everything so awkward.

"So, there it is. Our love story," Jun leans back in his chair, grin widening as Minghao blushes.

Minghao, despite the red high in his cheeks, rolls his eyes. "'Love story'? I don't even know you. For all I know you could be a cannibal."

Jun's face morphs into one taking a deep offense. He puts his hand on his chest. "How dare you think of me like that?"

Minghao shrugs, shooting Jun a lopsided smile.

"And is being a cannibal worse than being a killer? Aren't you scared I'm a serial killer?"

"Uhm, no? And yes being a cannibal is worse than being a killer. Atleast killers just kill people. Leave them off to the side of the road or something. Cannibals have to kill the human before eating them. That's a double yikes." He explains.

Jun hums, agreeing. They lapse into silence, the only sound coming from their utensils tapping at the ceramic plates.

\--

"Here's my two truths and a lie : One, I'm Chinese. Two, I'm surely older than you. Three, I'm Korean." Jun says. He takes a sip from his cola.

For the past three hours, Minghao and Jun have been getting to know each other. Playing a game in which one of them has to tell two truths and a lie, while the other one has to guess where the lie is. Currently Jun is leading with four points while Minghao has only two. For the past three hours, Minghao and Jun have been talking. Minghao has kept note of Jun's obvious little mannerisms all throughout the night. The way Jun tilts his head to the side a bit after clicking his tongue whenever he thinks for more than five seconds. The way Jun's fingers keep tapping on the table, on his glass, on whatever surface, when there is a lull in their conversation. The way Jun likes to puff up his cheeks and blow out air every now and then. The way Jun likes to smile at every little thing. The way Jun can't seem to sit still for more than two seconds. The way Jun hums a song when he zones out the rest of the world because the world has lost his attention. The way Jun manages to sound like everything he says is the truth, how he can lie through his teeth without having some sort of tell.

Minghao narrows his eyes. Surely the lie was between Jun being Korean or Chinese. Surely Jun couldn't be half of both. "I'm going to assume you're not Chinese."

The way Jun smirks when Minghao misses his lie. "I'm not Korean," he sing - songs.

"Oh?" Minghao lets out. "I don't believe it. You're Chinese?" He asks. When Jun nods, he lets out a little cheer. "I'm Chinese, too!"

Jun cheers as well. "You could've told me, man! I've been struggling with my Korean for hours!" He says, exasperated.

"You could have told me as well! Ah," he pauses, then, in Mandarin, says, "it feels nice to speak in my mother tongue. It's been a while."

Jun replies, in Mandarin as well. "Same here. It's nice to meet you, bro!" Jun presents his hand to Minghao.

They shake hands, laughing. For the rest of the night, they talk comfortably to each other, in the language they're comfortable with.

\--

The restaurant is closing, the rest of the stragglers leaving, the lights dimming, and the employees cleaning.

Minghao and Jun had agreed to split the bill, and after paying they made their way outside.

Jun exhaled loudly, his breath visible in the cold night. "Hey, I have to tell you something."

Minghao looks at him. He hums, signalling Jun to speak.

"My name actually isn't Jun," at the panicked look on Minghao's face, Jun quickly waves his hands in front of him frantically in a placating manner. "It's not what you think! I meant my name isn't Jun, because it's just  a nickname. My actual name is Junhui."

Minghao sighs in relief. "I thought I had to run screaming or something," he laughs.

Jun laughs along with him. "But really. It's nice to meet you. My name is Wen Junhui," he sticks his hand out just like he did the first time.

Minghao accepts the hand. "My name is Xu Minghao. It's nice to meet you."

They talk more, with Jun's hand on the small of Minghao's back. They start walking to wherever Jun is leading Minghao to, and Minghao finds that he doesn't mind. Right now, he's content to not part from the man who has kept him comfortable company, making his night better than it was supposed to.

"Hey," Jun says, stopping.

Minghao has to turn around to face Jun, smiling at him.

"This was fun, right? I'd like to believe you had a nice time with me."

Minghao nods. "I had a great time. The best," he grins.

Jun beams, some nervousness shaken off by Minghao's comment. "Well, I can guarantee you'll have an even greater time the next time we go out." He smirks.

Minghao gapes, taken aback by the implication that there was a next time. "'Next time'?" He echoes, trailing off.

Then, the nervousness that has been shedded off returns full force. "Well, yeah, I mean if you want to. Since this one doesn't count, I'd like to take you out as an official first date."

Minghao smiles, his heart doing weird flips in his chest. "Ofcourse. I'd be glad to go on a date with you."

Jun brightens, and absently, Minghao thinks Jun is the brightest thing that Minghao has ever had the pleasure to come across.

\--

Later that night, as Minghao retires for bed, his phone buzzes. He quickly checks it, ready to see a message from Jun.

He frowns, seeing Mingyu's name on the message log.

_'Hey. I'm sorry I didn't go to you like we planned. I thought I was ready, but I wasn't. I'm sorry. I hope we can put this behind us and continue like how we were before? :)'_

Minghao rolls his eyes.

'Back to how we were before? You mean before you planned to meet with me but stood me up for five hours? No thanks. This was fun, Mingyu. Thanks for your time.'

He deletes their message log, then blocks Mingyu's number and then deletes it. After that he goes to his home screen, flicking over to the dating app that allowed him to get to know Mingyu. He stares at it for a few seconds, then deletes it. He wouldn't need any dating app, anyway. He's got Junhui. That thought makes him smile, not at all saddened by the erasure of Mingyu from his life. Atleast Minghao has more space on his phone now.

As he's seconds away from falling asleep, his phone rings with his message notification tone, effectively shaking him out of his stupor.

He smiles. It's Jun's name on the message log this time.

 

**Author's Note:**

> thanku for reading! inspired by [ this little prompt](https://goo.gl/images/dFQXMi).
> 
> TO CLARIFY :  
> \- minghao arrives at the restaurant at three in the afternoon. he spends five hours and a half waiting for mingyu, then spends three hours in the restaurant with junhui. that's eight and a half hours of sitting.
> 
> \- the [ original prompt ](https://goo.gl/images/dFQXMi) says, 'DOUCHE OF A BOYFRIEND' and i didn't like that it meant person a is already taken, but then goes on a date with person b? like,, dude no matter how big of a douche, that's still your boyfriend, man. atleast break up with them first before you go on dates with other people.
> 
> \- i made gyuhao what they are because of the reason above. 'what they are', meaning just two dudes who are more than friendly and met through a dating app.
> 
> \- i'm not shading the people who use dating apps in any way
> 
> \- at the end, minghao deleted everything related to mingyu. basically, mingyu is cancelledt.
> 
> \- the moment minghao (and y'all, i guess,,) should have realised that mingyu was going to stand him up was when mingyu went silent when minghao suggested they meet up. further realisation should have been when mingyu took a longer time replying after that, and then when mingyu didn't talk to minghao the whole day.
> 
> \- this is my first junhao work, and i'm glad you took your time reading it. i lov u
> 
> THIS TOOK ME DAYS TO COMPLETE KAHSKKSS I STARTED JUNE TWENTY - NINE AND FINISHED JULY FIFTEEN I HATE MYSELF
> 
> i hope u enjoyed this little self - indulgent junhao work!! hehe came for the gyuhao left with the junhao
> 
> i never tell you guys to leave kudos but i am thankful that you guys do it anyway aaaaaa but!!!!! you don't have to kudo!!!! i would actually prefer if you leave comments, i like hearing your opinions on what i write, and talking with you in general :^(
> 
> please check out my other [works!](https://archiveofourown.org/users/minimemeyoongi/works)
> 
> // here's my (very inactive) twitter account! [@minimemeyoongi](https://twitter.com/minimemeyoongi)


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